Portable devices can often be dropped or otherwise subjected to excessive acceleration forces during operation and handling. For example, a portable electronic device such as a computer laptop, media player or digital/cell phone may be accidentally knocked off of a desk, dropped onto the floor, or even sent flying through the air at a time when the device is in use.
A variety of approaches have been proposed in the art in an effort to detect the application of such forces to a device, and to place the device in a protective mode to protect against damage as a result of a high force impact.
Some data storage devices include moveable transducers that fly adjacent rotatable media to carry out data read and write operations with the media. The devices can be configured to park the transducers in a safe location, such as on a load/unload ramp structure, when a free fall condition is detected. In this way, the transducers are not operationally adjacent the media surfaces when the device hits the ground, thus avoiding contact between the transducers and media surfaces that may induce damage to the device.
While operable, with the continued consumer demand for various types of portable devices, there remains a continual need for improvements whereby a device can be operated in a variety of environments and yet protected against damage due to changes in acceleration state. It is to these and other improvements that preferred embodiments of the present invention are generally directed.